Chapter 5 / Page 3

He pulled off his hand and elbow pads, tossing them towards the corner along with the cage mask. Harper never took his eyes off his target and examined his situation. The feral nature of his training kicked into overdrive as he started walking across the floor to the trio behind the parent wall.

Louis quit clapping and grinned. “Always a teacher. It’s good to see you haven’t lost your edge.”

“Really?” He shot a hard look at one of Edwards’s flunkeys.

Louis glanced over his shoulder. “Oh, I did hear about your encounter with Mister Smith and Mister Jones this morning. Caught them completely off guard.”

Jim had covered half the distance to the wall. He nodded. “Did they tell you what I’d do to them if they showed their ugly faces again? We don’t allow garbage in this school.”

Louis sniffed the air and wrinkled his nose. “Perhaps it would be best if they waited outside.”

Jim nodded again. “Tell them to get lost, Louis—and while you’re at it—you can get lost with them. I don’t work for you anymore.”

Louis nodded to his men who walked backwards to the door. Jim Harper was not a small man. He carried very little body fat. His posture resembled a cat ready to strike; he projected total menace. “Yes, I suppose you might feel that way, Jimbo.”

Harper hated being called Jimbo. He stopped a few paces short of the wall. “What do you want?”

Louis clapped his hands together. “Always one to get right to the point aren’t you—no subtle moves—no finesse, just straight to the point. Well, it made you what you are.”

Jim folded his arms, waiting. The brown belt he had been fighting came out of the locker room. Louis said nothing and smiled. Jim looked behind him. “Have a nice week, Terry.”

“Thanks for working with me, Mister Harper.”

Jim smiled and waited until the kid left the through the front door. He turned back to Louis. “You never answered my question. Of course, that’s nothing new for you. What will it be this time—lies about North Korea or the perils of Red China? Maybe we need to find what’s going on in Bosnia. It’s obvious you folks haven’t got a clue these days.”

“Yes, well, they did warn me you might be less than receptive to a visit.” Louis suggested. “Maybe I could buy you lunch?”